m 






I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. | 

I Chap. .'B.pt.^..^.. 
I Shelf \...,\^,Ls> 

I I'^n ' ^'' 

p UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ADDEESS 



A -V 



DKl.lVKHKI) UKFOItE 



THE TAMMASY SOCIETY, 



TAMMANY HALL, NKW YORK. 



July 4th f 187 :i. 



>K. 



HON. CLARKSOJV Nf POTTER. 



LIBERTV CONSISTS IN TRK IT 'MITATION'* 0F~G0VK.KN V ENT. 



\m'6 



NEW Y()IU\': 
D. TAYLOR. LAW. BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, Con. FILTON & XASSAT' STS. 



'? 



Mit. (tKA?»J) SAtllK^I A>l> FkI,1.()\\ C'lriZK-NS : 



We have assembled to celel)rate the iiinety-seventli aniiivor- 
sMvy of the Declaration of American Independence. It was a De- 
claration made amid doubts and dangers and ditlicnlties. It was 
maintained only after long struggles and sacrifices and sutfer- 
ing. And it was finally followed by a national ))rospcrity so 
great as to have endeared the memory of the day, not only to 
the people of that generation, but also to tlieir childnni and 
their children's children. 

And yet the separation of the people of these States 
from Great Britain could, in no event, have failed long since 
to have taken place ; and whatever may be our |»rcsent dan- 
gers, that of subjugation by any Eurojie;in power, or even 
loss of national indejtendence, is n(»t among them. 

This anniversary cojnes to us, then, as his birthday comes to 
a man — not so much as a day on Avhich to rejoice because he 
was boi-n, as one on which to consider upon his situation, his 
duties, and his future. 

^Vhat, then, shall we say of tlie ]»rcsent condition of these 
ITuited States? 

On every hand an unprecedented nuiterial prosjierity ]>re- 
vails. The three millions of people Avhose declaration of inde- 
pendence we celebrate, then thinly scattered along the Atlantic 
seaboard, have grown to be the forty millions of our time. 
Every where this people have ]»ushed l)ack the forest and sub- 
dued the wilderness. To-day they hold the continent from 
one of tlie great oceans of the world to the other. Throuoh- 



out all this \ast tcrritoiy, — rich in all the prodiu'ts of the 
torrid and teni2>erate zones, — hamlets and villages, and even 
great eities, have been l»uilt up ; yeai" hy year the ])roduee of 
tlieir fields and their floeks, tlieir ores and their minerals, their 
coals and their oils, their mills and factories and fui-naees have 
increased. Year by ja-ar they have gone on constructing slii])s 
and boats, roads and canals, railways and telegrajdis, until at 
last the entire land is knit together with the means of instant 
intercommunication and rapid interconveyanee. Year by 
year the emigration from other shores, bringing stout arms 
and willing hearts, seeking homes and shelter liere, has increased. 
Until now their shijjs whiten every ocean, their trade gathers its 
riches from every land, and the wealth and power and influ- 
ence of this peo])le are known and admitted of all nations. 
VYhile throughout nearly all this vast domain, beyon<l even 
these material advantages, peace and order, intelligence and 
free education also prevail, and with them unbounded activity, 
untiring energy, and increasing wealth — all combining, on this 
anniversary, to swell our hearts Avith just and patriotic })ride. 

But with and beyond all this marvellous i)ros]»erity, liave we 
no real ground for alarm ? Vastly as we surpass our Fatliers 
in numbers and wealth and power, are we not losing the pub- 
lic virtue and the private worth which adorned their lives ? 
With our material prosperity lias grown uj* everywhere an in- 
satiate desire for riches, uid)ridled luxurv and reckless 
extravagance. In their blind jnirsuit of Avealth, men have 
ceased to consider how it was acquired if only it could l)e 
secured. On all sides greed ami corruption abound. State 
and nuinicii)al councils, chosen to legislate for the well being 
of the people, are too often occu])ied with private jol)s and 
schemes of plunder. Their corruption has become so flagrant 
as to be the subject of common remark and general assumjjtion. 
With what anxiety on the part of all honest peo})le is the 



mei'tinu' ol" a State Leiiislatiiiv attended. Witli what ix-lief 
is its ndjouniineiit liailed, Avhetlier it l)e in our own State or in 
the neighboring sister States of Massacluisetts or l*ennsyl\ ania ; 
Avliether the Legishiture be eontrolled by one party or by tlie 
other. Tn wliat great city are not tax-payers subjected to 
phmder Ijy unnecessai'v street openings, unjust assessments, 
wasteful expenditures? Tn eonneetion witli A\hat ])id)lie otHee 
is tliere not believed to be a Ring ; witli what ]>atron- 
age some secret gain V While men witliout ])rinciple, seeking 
])rotit through political organizations, ally thenisel\es with tlie 
dominant party of the moment, and call themselves Republi- 
cans in Pliiladeljdiia, or Democi'ats in New York, in order to 
wield the inHuence ami c-ontrol the ])atronage of tlie party for 
jtei'sonal and selfish ends. Until only now and then some fla- 
grant enormity raises a tem])orary publii- indignation and tliev 
are driven, as these walls bear witness, from the power t]\v\ 
abused and the shelter of the mimes and the Society they ha\ e 
outraged. 

Indeed, throughout a })ortion of our land larger tlian France, 
a region wliich submitted to the Federal (Government nearly 
ten years ago, and Avhich has been the s}>ecial subject of its 
paternal care, which has been constructed and reconstructed, 
and even in parts re-reconstructed, a condition of ])ublic dc- 
moralization prevails which illustrates the results of rule by the 
worst. In which those having most to suffer and to lose, those 
most interested in the welfare and prosperity of the section, 
are shut out from its councils, ;uid the adventurer, the "scalla- 
wag " and the "carpetbagger," reign in their stead. In which 
l)lunder, under the form of law, has been so general and so 
enormous as to destroy public credit ami ])aralyze even private 
energy. 

Nor is this demoralization confined to otHcial conduct or to 
])ublir life. 



Mark, liow cxeii in jirivatt' life incu arc i\'oai"(U'(l lor tlieii- 
t'oiliiiu's fatlior than for tlieir worth ; liow siu-ccss causes t'rainl 
and wroiiii' to l»c (>\ crlooked ; what a strugy'lc yoos on for posts 
of jtultlic an<l |iri\ ;itc trust, Miiicli, riolitly tilled, could only be 
profitless ;ind luii-densonie ; how, fi'oni every |)art, nuMi seek 
the great marts to try their fortunes in the ventures of the 
hour, hojiing to gather where they have not toiled ; howgani- 
hling iu stocks, with the dangerous combinations it im ites and 
the corruption it encourages, h'ls become general ; how venial 
it is deemed to artiticially inflate or depi-ess prices, to create 
tictitious amIiu's l)y foi-ced scarcreness or un<bie de})ression by 
combined attacks ; nay, how j)ublic journals and men of iuHu- 
emte, and even actions at law, :ii-e ina<h^ part of the machinei-y 
to these ends. Observe, too, how rash a<l\'entures take the 
])lace of steady iiulustry, how wild extravagance is ap]»laudetl, 
and how a whok' j»eo])le make haste befoi'e all things to be 
lich. 

Now, what shall we say of these evils? Are they the 
fiMiits of this much \aunted system of governnu'ut of ours, 
or do they result from other and natural causes which the 
foundei-s of tlu'se governments did not foresee, and, therefore, 
could not ha\c pro\ided against":' And how ftir is it ])<)ssible 
to overconu', or to check these e\ils by anv changes in our 
existing go\ cnunents ? 

These are (piesfions which it seems to me demand the 
thoughtful, earnest, disjiassiouate consideration of all citizens, 
and especially of all who coiu'ern themselves with political <ir 
])id)lic affairs. 

Our age has not been favorable to such reflections. With 
the Kathei's who franu'd our govern nu'iits this was otherw ise. 
They had given to the })hilosophy of go\-ei-nment years of 
])rofound :ind diligent study. They had passed thi-ough sexeii 



years of revolutionary trial. And, after those years of des- 
perate struggle in arms they passed through yet othei" years, 
of the doubt, the depression, and the difficulties wliicli sur- 
rounded tlie young confederacy. 

During all tliese days of devotion ami sacrifice, days of 
steady hahits, of moderate gains, of freedom from wild ex- 
travagance and speculation, men liad occasion and opportu- 
nity to thoroughly consider the whole subject of rcpuhlicnn 
government; so that [)robahly no body of men ever met t<» 
form a government in this world who were better fitted or 
prei)ared for that work. 

But with us this has not been so. Hurrie<l on by the cares and 
excitements an<l necessities of the hour, we have been content 
to adhere to the forms of government our Fathers established; 
and, ascribing to these forms a ])rosperity largely the result of 
natural advantages, have given slight heed to tlie })i'inciples 
these foi-ms were designed to carry out, or to tlie changes in 
government which the altered condition of the countrv re- 
cuires ; but have gone on discussing past issues until we find 
oiiT'selves in face of a demoralization so alarming as to de- 
mand of us now at least to pause and consider. 

It will, therefore, 1 trust, not be uni)rotitable to now iccall 
the principles held by llic Fathers, and tlu' conditions 
to which they applied them, and the changes in the country 
which have since taken place; that we may be thus aided to 
judge what further measures are yet required to now carry 
those principles into effect. 

They began, as we have just heard, by their dcclai-ation, that 
government was of human not divine origin; that it existed 
for the benefit of the governed not the rulers, and that it de- 
rived all its just i)Owers from their consent. This was, indeed, 
a new gospel of government never to be too much l>orne in 



tniiid. r>u( licyoiid tliis tlie Fathers carcl'iilly and wisi-lv con- 
sidered what wei'e tlie iiialieual»U' rit!,lits ot" |)ers()iis, and in 
wliat ivspect thi' authority of o-o\ernnient shonhl be defined 
ami hniited. 

In thc'ii" system (»!" L!;o\erninent, — and by that |ilirase 1 here 
inehnU' t\\v wliole autliorities, State and Federal, tlu'y estnb- 
lislied t() exercise power, — in tlieir system of government, 
three canhnal |ii-inciples were deemed essential. 

The first was that government shonhl l)e defined, an<l 
liniite<l agninst absolute power. Aeeor(liugly they framed 
their governments both State ami Federal with ])rescribe(l 
and written Coustitutious. These Constitutions defined wliat 
government might do, and provided Avhat it might not do. 

From these Constitutions their governments derived all tlu- 
autliority they had, and it was oidy by these Constitutions 
that they had any just authority wliatever. Such Constitu- 
tions W'Cre at once the source, tlie measure, and tlie limit of all 
their just powers over the governed. 

The second essential upon which our Fathers acte(l was, 
that the exercise of the ])owers of government should be loeal- 
i ized. 

They had rebeUed against the motlu'r country to which tiiey ^ j 
I w^ere deeply attached, not merely because of taxation without ; i 
i representation, nor because of any special measures of 
oppression; for as they themselves declared "mankind are ; 
juore disposed to suffer wdiile evils are suiferal»le than to riglit | 
themselves by abolishing forms to which they ai'e accus- ; 
torned.'" Revolution w^ould in the end have come even with- 
out the particular grievances of which they complained, j I 
l>ut our Fathers really revolted be(ta,use they reali/.e<l that } t 
dwelling on the edge of a wilderness thousands of miles and '; ! 
Ttionths of time removed from the ruling go\ernment, that \i 
foreign })ower could ne\er justly know nor understand wliat |i 



they reciuiird, and could not, tlierefore, — no matter how wise : 
nor well disposed, — hv able to ai)preeiate nor rii^htly provide ] 
for their necessities, v,.,/ i 

They clearly realiztfO^*^ ^^^'-^^ ^'*'' '^ ''"'^^^ country like this, 
with all its A'ariety of climate, production, and industry, free 
o-overnnient must consist in self-g"overnment; and they realized 
also, that self-government consisted in men governing them- 
selves, not in their governing other people. 

That to decide what men should eat or wear, Avhat roads 
sliould he opened, or licenses given, by the vote of the whole 
pt'ople, would he as evil and as oppressive as to have such local 
and individual questions decided by a king or- a foreign 
conncil. It was, therefore, the wise })olicy of our Fatliers that 
each community should decide for itself the aifairs that related 
to that commmiity ; that the State sliould determine only those 
matters which related to the whole State ; wliile the national 
g(n'ernment was only to deal with those matters in respect of 
which all the nation had a common interest. 

Doubtless, my friends, there be men who can govern their 
families better than you or I govern onrs. Yet we should 
think it a great hardship if such men undertook to govern our 
families for us. But not only sliould we think this a great 
hardship, but you may be sure our families would find it a 
great hardship also. Not because these men might not be 
better than we are ; not because they might not be w^iser than 
we are ; but because God has given them no such i-elation to 
our families as he has given to us, so that they could never 
understand, as we can, what our families require. 

Just so it is with government. The government of a, gi-eat 
nation, by an absolute central authority, is like the govern- 
ment of one man's family by a stranger ; is like the govern- 
ment of one nation by a foreign nation. No matter how -w'ise 
the i»ersons who may admiviister such a government may be. 



10 



no innttcr how just they may 1»(', il will 1h' unavoidable that 
tliev cannt*! know what the localities whicli they g'overn re- 
<|uire ; and, therefoiv, .'^o/rtr as rekftcs to /oca/ //nftterj^, sucli a 
government eainiot fail to he a had and an oppressive go- 
vernment. 

Tlie remaining i'nndamenlal principle of the ?\athers" system 
of government was that there should he no class privileged to 
])er])etuate accumulations of property. They left every man 
free to accumulate, with all the powers (4od had given him, 
whatever |)roperty he laAvfully might. But shice God has 
•/\\■e^\ to no man the p'oWSTW take with him out of the world 
the property he may have accumulated in it, and since he can 
oidv control the disposition of what he may leave behind him 
bv the aid of positive law, they wisi'ly gave no man jiowei' to 
per]»etuate his accumulations. Accordingly, they }irohibited 
entailed estates, rights T)y^prim()geuiture, orders of nobility, 
mortmain, and generally favored the widest distril)ution of 
decedaiits estates. 



About these general [>i-iiu'iides there was no diifereuce among 
the Fatlu'rs. Men differed, and differed widely, as to how 
powers should be distributed; as to what powers were to be 
lodgi'd in the Federal, and wdiat should be left to the State 
governments. Hut as to the rights of individuals Federalists 
and Democrats were agreed. It was the Federalist Alexander 
iramilton who <lefined a despotism as a government in which 
all })ower is concentrated in a single body, Avhether elective or 
not. It was his great follower, the Whig, Daniel Webster, 
who declared that lil)erty consisted in tlu' limitations of 
government. 

When, therefore, the jiresent Federal Constituti(»n came to 
be a(lopte<l, you will remember that the discussions were not 
as to what powers goveiMunent might exercise o\er the go- 
verned, but oidy as to how those powers, acknowledged as 



11 



[)r()i)i'r to l»e exercised by a republican oovernment, sliould 
be distributed ; Avliich should be given to the new Federal 
government, which reserved to the States. 

But in applying their principles, our Fatlu'rs had to deal 
with a eondition of these States and peojile which — short for a 
nation as the intervening time has been — was a con<lition 
wholly different from that of our day. IIow great the differ- 
ence is between even the States a,nd people whicli eighty-five 
years ago adopted the pi-esent Federal Constitution and thosi' 
of our time, it is not easy now to realize. 

At that time, the thirteen States which formed this govern- 
ment were entirely sovereign and separate. They lay stretched 
along the Atlantic coast, having behind them a wilderness 
without limit, and in large part unknown. The people of 
those feeble States spoke, indeed, the same language, and had 
laws of the same general character, but their origins had been 
diff'erent, their hal)its dissimilar, their views unlike. Commu- 
nication between them was rare and ditticult, trade i)altry and 
infrequent. Then a few roads were opened near the coast, 
along which great wains toiled slowly with goods, while on 
tlu' more inland ways traffic was carried on by the pack-horse 
and the sumpter mule. Men drifted slowly down the rivers 
on rafts, oi' worked the Hat-boat and the batteaux ujt the cur- 
rent by the aid of the sail or the setting pole, and thus carried 
on the inland navigation, now grown to over four millions of 
tons a year. Then, a pound of tea or a silken kerchief was 
an unusual luxury, and a bright ribbon was a handsome 
present. Even Jefferson, when Secretary of State, and 
called in haste to meet with the Cabinet, was twenty-eight 
days of diligent traveling from his home to this city, and 
now one can leave here at night, and reach iVIonticello 
comfortably the next noon. 

It was for States thus weak, and separate, and poor, for 



12 

lieojilc tlms distinct, aiul tVuunl, :ui(l tliouglilful, witli oc- 
cupations, and habits, and tem]>tations wdiolly unlike tliose of 
our generation, that our Fathers souglit to establish govern- 
ment. And if, in establishing it, they apprehended e^ils which 
never arose, and failed to jjrovide for those which do now 
exist, it was because the subsisting I'vils have come in with a 
growth, riches, and consolidation wholly unj)recedented, and 
mahdy resulting from inventions, and methods of interconnuu- 
nication then unsuspected. 80 that the present wealth and 
centralization of the country could not then have been fore- 
seen, nor ])rovision made against the ])articular evils which at- 
tend it. 

The jtarties which were formed upon the establislnnent of 
the Federal Government, were, therefore, naturally i»arties as 

to the construction to be given to the Constitution and the 

.» ■''' 
powers which might be exercised under it. ■ Tn the \ ery ear- 
liest Congresses the power of Congress to imj^iose duties foi- 
pro tection, to make inteinal improvenu'nts, and.to establish a 
National Bank were I'.iised and discussed. 

These qjiiestions were indeed not questions as to whether the 
particular authority in controversy might l>e exercised at all. 
For no one regarded the buildhig of a dock, or the giving of 
a bounty, or the establishment of a bank, to be lieyond the 
province of government ; and indeed these were powers which 
had all been exercised by the States. But the difference about 



them was only as to v 


diich of our dua 


1 Governments 


such 


authorit} 


was lodged in 










About 


sucl 


1 questions 


, wherever the 1 


anguage of 


the 


Con- 


stitution 


was 


not clear 


and ex})licit, the 


A'iews of hones 


t and 


conscientous 


men might 


well differ. 








Those 


who 


fa\ ored a 


system of paternal government ; 


who 


desired g 


overnment not 


only to ])reservt 


order and 


niainttiin 


security. 


but 


to underta 


ce tlu' ))i-otection 


of industry 


, the 


exe- 



i; 



(MitioM of internal inii»n)Voments, the direction of tlie finances, 
tlie control of education, wouM naturally, when any question 
arose as t<* whether a i»articular power should he exercised by 
State or Federal authority, look Avith favor ui)on its exercise 
hy the central governnient ; while, on the other hand, men, 
whose frame of mind made them a)>i)rehensive of authority 
and jealous of the rights of mdividuals, would, even if a par- 
ticular power was one confessedly proper to he exercised hy 
o-ovevnrnent, naturally side, if the lang:uao-e of the Constitution 
admitte<l of doul)t, against the transfer of the power from 
the narrower range of State to the widei- range of Federal 
authority. 

That is, tlie parties which arose under our Constitution Avere 
tliose of Federal and of State rights. And since, from the dual 
nature of our government, national nuitters were allotted to 
the Federal, local and special ones to the State governments, 
these were the only national i)arties the time admitted of. 
The jiarty of- State rights came to be called Democrats ; not, 
hoirever, Irf as remeiiiher. because the rights of States are in 
themselves important., except as they tend to ^^reserve local 
and limited (/or em ] a ent and fhns secure the rights o/jtersons, 
hi(t became those rights were thas indirectly involved. 
sJ For sixty years after th e Constitution was adopted, the 

*" I ' w ir f ii I IMiiiiaii -- iMimi M nii III . 111,11 ITT-" ~-1 III 

views of the people on these qu estions of the distril)ution ot 
pow er remained substantially the same. T)nring ;dl thcsi' 
years, the issues of bank, of tariff, and of internal impr<)\ c- 
ments continued to be discussed^and were indeed^the pri.ndpal 
nation al issues^ And the views as to the distribution of the 
])owers of government between the State and Federal autho- 
rities, which during this long period generally prevailed, were 
substantially the views which had in the beginning l)een main- 
tained by .Madison and his compeers. 

This dual system of government, this combination of sove- 



14 

reign states into one sovereign natioji, tliis (lonl>le allegianee 
which eacli citi/.en owed to the State and Federal Govern- 
ments, was one of those things tew foreigners eonhl under- 
stand, hut it was one, twenty years ago, discussed in every 
ctountry store, talked over around every har-rooni tire, revived 
u|>on the stump and platform at every election fi-oni Maine to 
(^n'orgia. E\ erywhere it. ^vas understood, and everywhere the 
resti-aints and limitations of the Constitution wei-e insisted 
n[)on. 

IJut in time a new question ai-ose — that of Shnei-y in the 
Territories. 

Upon that cpiestion many Democrats sided with the South, 
not because they favored slavery, but because the F'edei-al 
(Tovernment, having been estaldislu'd by Slave States, and 
haviiig ix'ceived no power to deal with slavery except to ]ti-o- 
\'i(le for the return of fugitives fn-.n service, could not, in 
their judgment, rightfully interfere with slavery. That is, 
u[)on the shnery ({uestion, Democrats took thi' side of the 
I'ights of the States which hajjpened to l)i' the side of slavery ; 
l)Ut they did this, not because they were for slaxery, but be- 
cause they were for the States. 

This slavery agitation was continued for many years. It 
involved moral as well as ])olitical (piestious ; the rights of 
government over the governed, as well as tlu' extent of P'ede- 
ral ])ower.S(^jVlen talked then of the higher law, and of a duty 
al)ove the CoiistituBoii^Ttaivided the Democratic party it- 
self, aiuT, m a degree, took the place of the previous (piestious 
about the distribution of the powers of governmeut. Mean" 
time a new generation wni> growing up, and the changes in 
tlie nature of the country itself — which, in the end, proved 
more controlling than any public discussion or |)arty action — 
wei'e l)ecoming comjdete. 

When the Constitution was adojtted it was thought that the 



15 



flaiigor of tlic t'utuiv was, not tlial llic new go\enirnent Avould 

absorl) too niucli power, but that tlie State g-overnmeiits would 

cripple, resist, and defy it. 
^'^^ndcr the cirennistanees thvw existinii', these views were 

prol)al»ly justified. I>ut the introduelion of steam na\ i!j;-ati<Mi 

I gave a new and marvellous development to the natural unity 

' of the land. For no sooner had the steand)oat begun its 

;■ journeys up the great rivers of the interior, than it (bvw to- 

I gether within days of eaeh other, peoi»le before separated' 

,' bv weeks. Thus internal trade was developed and with <\t 

I 
wealth and population increased, and l)y these in turn ndw 

means of inter-eonmninication were established. IJoads AveiV 

extended, turnpikes built, canals dug, post routes multiplied, \ 

news])a]»ers distributed ; day liy day tlie |»eople grew richer ; \ 

the wilderness was step l>y step occupied and overctmie ; trade 

and intercourse between different })arts increased, and a better 

understanding and greater honiogeneousness among the people 

of the different States followed ; until at last the Railway was 

invented, drawing together within hours, the i)eo])le whom the 

steaml)oat had only l)rouglit within (L-iys of each other ; and 

then last, and most centrali/ing of all, the telegraiih was intro- 

\ duced, putting all parts of the land into instant communication 

\with each other. •-yil — 

Heyoiul all thi^ of all the thirty-seven States, twentv-four 
never were original States at all. Xearly all of these have 
known no life that Avas not ]>art of or connected with that of 
tlie P^ederal Government. From their earliest settlenu'ut thev 
were Federal Territories, living upon Federal bounty, con- 
trolled by Federal oflicers, subject in all things to Federal leg- 
islation ; and, when they came at last to be States, their people 
could not forget the territorial relations of their earlier years, 
nor have that State pride and that veneration for State rights 
which the citizens of the original States ])ossess. 



1^ 



r -, 



16 



Ffoiii the iiKinu'iit, tlu'iefoi-e, llic (|iu's(i(>ii of Shivery ripened 
into secession, and tlius Itrouij^ht on a test of pliysieal strengtli, 
the clianges in tlic natuiv of the i-onnfry wer^ apparent. Tt 
Avoul<l have heen jnst as nnhxwful to liave seceded fifty years 
hefore, but had sucli a secession llien occuri'ed, it wouhl not have 
bi'en put (h)\vn. I)Ut, wlien tlu' late war broke out, tlie ]>eo])le 
of tlie Nortli, wlio liad l»een larj^elv tracU'rs, manufacturers and 
travelers, instinctively felt that these States had become 
actu:dly consolidated and one, ami must be kept together ; and 
with a wondei'ful unanimity, they i»erniitted the Federal ])awer 
to exercise during the war general and a1)solute authority. 
But the peo])le of the South Avho had remained chiefly agricul- 
turists, among whom the planter was the first citizen, whose 
territory was much more sparsely settled, and whose ti-ade and 
means of intercommunication were far less develojied, believ- 
ed in no such consolidation, and saw in Union no necessity. 

The war justified the judgment of the North, and proved for 
the present at least, the nationality of the whole country. In 
carrying on the war the Federal Government had, besides ex- 
ercising its ordinary powers, inqiressed citizens, made forced 
loans, monopolized the control of tlie banks and currency, 
arrested on suspicion, imprisoned at will, suspended TFabeas 
Corpus, resisfed the Courts, and done all this not oidy without 
the consent, but against the armed resistance of some, and the 
protest of others of the States. In short, it exercised through- 
out, of its own will, the most general and the most absolute 
national i)owers. 

The war resulted in the a1)olition of Slavery and the 
conquest of the South. With peace the United Stales stood 
forth with but twenty-five States, the othei-s wvvc its 
eon(juered ten-itoiy. I^ut it stood forth with national jirestige 
and power second to no country upon I'arth. 

Following the Avar, came reconstiau-tion, with tlii' i-egulation 



17 



of suffrngi:' mill the control of elections by Congress, and 
finally the establishment of its i>ower over vested rights. All 
ill effect working a revolution ; a revolution which the 
changes in the physical condition of the country had long been 
preparing the peo[>le for, lint which the war precipitated. 

And yet dui-ing all these years of war and of reconstruc- 
tion, the Democratic Party raised its voice for the rights of 
States, and against the usurpations of the Federal Government. 
But that cry though heard was not heeded. And it was not 
heeded, liecausethe circumstances and condition of the country 
were changed, not because the people no longer favored 
limited and localized government, at least so far as they thought 
about principles at all. But since limited and localized gov- 
ernment were presented under circumstances that involved, 
as the people thought, nationality and the necessary supremacy 
of the Federal Government, and since they were determined, 
above all things, upon maintaining nationality, they decided as 
they did. 

Tn their nature, in their development, in their relations, in 
their intercourse, the States have indeed grown together ; and 
a generation has come up whose ideas of the relation of the 
Federal Government to the States, so far from according with 
the true relation, accords rathei- with tlu; real relation of the 
Federal Government to the Territories. If you enquire of the 
young men of the country and of the women of Avhatever age 
you will find that, as to at least three-fourths of them, such is 
the nature of whatever views on the subject they have. 

If, then, the changes in the country itself and in the ideas 
of the })eople have been so great, our first duty is to recog- 
nize the fact. It is always a duty frankly to recognize 
and to nnike the best of the inevitable. And however clear 
it may be to us who are familiar with the com}n'omises of 
the Constitution and the rights of the Stat?s, that the Federal 



18 



Govermnent has assumed powers alike unwarranted and un- 
constitutional, we niusi not let the unavoidable logic of our 
convictions prevent us from remeniV)ering that behind. all con- 
stitutions remains the riglit of revolution. That what the peo- 
ple as a wliole, really, soberly, and finally determine uj)on, 
they will have, and, as this day reminds us, have a right to 
have. For after all, this Federal Government was established 
by the People, and for the People. Its just rights depend np- 
on their consent. They did indeed ordain a fundamental law, 
and prescribe how alone it shonld be amended. Bnt a new 
condition of things liaving arisen they insisted upon changes 
in that law and did in fact change it. Perlnqis regularly and 
wisely, and ])erhaps, as most of us have thought, irregularly 
and unwisely, but none the less did they change it. They are 
the source of power, accountabk' only to themselves ; and if 
theiv be anything in . the world the peoj)le of these Fnited 
States have settled, and settled irrevocably, it is that this is a 
nation, not a confederation of sovereign States ; that within 
its limits sla\t'ry shall remain abolished, and political rights be 
denied to no man because of race or color, and that the Fed- 
eral Government shall have i>ower to ])reserve and enforce 
these rights. 

We find oui-selves, therefore, face to face tliis day with a 
new situation. A vast powerful united nation has taken the 
l)lace of a few separate and sovereign States. Our central 
government has, by amendments, by construction, by assump- 
tion, but, above all, by the consent and will of the people, 
absorbed all the substantial powH'rs of government. It is idle 
to attem])t to roll liack the past and to return to those con- 
structions of the (%)nstitution now^ so rejieatedly rejected. If 
we could reduce our population to a fcAV millions, without the 
steamboat,, the i-aHway, and the telegrai)h, then it might he 
j)ossible to restore the strict State rights construction of the 



19 



past. But if we cannot undo tlio physical clianges wliich have 
led to these })olitical results, we cannot expect to reverse 
those results. 

But if we could reverse those results, we should e\ en then 
hut })artially and imperfectly remedy the evils which now 
exist. 



These evils arise, first and ahove all, I think, from the power / 
o^" )»rivate and special legislation. 

[n a poor and sparse community just establishing a govern- 
ment, as this State was a century ago, the local questions and 
private claims which exist are insigniticant. But as the State 
grows richer the opportunities for j^rofit in the form of grants 
of si)ecial privileges and franchises increase, and the induce- 
ments to corrupt legislation increase with these accordingly. 
New York has now a population larger and vastly richer than 
that of the whole country at the Revolution. Men can find for- 
tunes by the monopolies of ferries and roads and streets its Legis- 
lature can grant. The power that Legislature possesses to crea.te 
corporations, to authorize combinations, to grant privileges, 
ami confer s]iecial rights is the power to enrich one man at the 
expense of the whole. Few sought such monopolies in the early 
days of the State because few^ such monopolies were then valua- 
ble ; but now, that such grants have become valualde, those who 
seek them besiege the Legislature for their gift ujitil it has of 
late years become a prey to schemes for private grants and 
private gains. Those who seek such grants not only seek to 
intluence and corru]»t the Legislature but to control it^O^c- 
ginning with the primaries they put their men forward, carry- 
ing them through the nominating conventions and sustaining 
them at the })olls, so that such members, if elected, go to 
Albany, not to represent the people, but the jobbers that elevated 
them. Every year the number of jtrivate acts increases. They 



20 



numlicr already niiu'-tcnths of the whole leoislatioii. We have 
indeed repeatedly seen the Legislature eontiiniing to sit for 
weeks beyond a legitimate session without any known or law- 
ful compensation because of the number of its ])rivate bills. 
Indeed, no public advantage can result from any private 
grant ; while, as regards local legislation, since tlie Legislatui-e 
cannot know wliat roads or bridges or corporations are needed 
in particular localities, in acting on such and kindred questions 
it cannot but act blindly, if not recklessly and corruptly. 

►Such evils are not confined to Xew York. They jirevail in all 
the States where private legislation is of value and is permitted. 
They are among those evils I repeat which were not fore- 
seen, and could not have been anticipated by the Fathers. And 
yet tlieir cure lies in a simple extension of that general ]»rinci])Ie 
of limiting the range and action of government which lies 
at the fouiulation of the P^athei's' system^j^In every State of 
this I'^nion and in most Euro})ean nations it has beenToivncr 
"^sential to impose some constitutional limitations ui)on gov- 



ernment. B(> that whether exercised by persons born to 
place,"or"criosen by the people, governinent should equally be 
restrained, in favor of individual rights from exercising cer- 
tain powers. On. the same principle, wdiat is needed to sub- 
tantially overcome the evils resulting from the late enornunis 
growth of private and special legislation is to resti'ict the 
Legislature from such powers of legislation.V/ This has 
already been done in some of the Western States, no- 
tably in the llepublican State of Iowa, and ^\\%[\ the best 
effects. In that State the Legislature is prohibited by the 
fundamental law from passing any })rivate act. AVhatever is 
dont' must be done by ])ublic act equally open to all citizens. 
Such a provision may be attended at times with some incon- 
venience, though I doubt even the need of that, but such in- 
convi'uience if it exists is of small importance conq)ared with 



21 



tlu' public n'ood wliic'li must necessarily result from putting 
an absolute end to corrupt legislation l>y deprix ing the Legis- 
lature of the power to permit jduuder. The late amendments 
to our Constitution proposed hy the Constitutional Connnis- 
sion, although in this respect less thorough than T could lia\e 
wished, would have heen a long stride in the right dire<'tion, 
and the mutilation of those amendments l)y the Legislature 
is, indeed, greatly to he regretted. For nothing short of a 
change in the fundamental law will effect a cure of these evils. 
From the very nature of tlungs so long as the necessary pub- 
lic legislation is small, and private legislation is largely prolit- 
able, so long must such evils \k' in a greater or less degrei' 
looked for, and reform in these res[)ects })rove but partial and 
temporary. A State in which men are left at full liberty to 
follow their private business without tronbling themselvi's 
about pixblic affairs is, doubtless, a most fortunate State, i>ro- 
vided such neglect can be safely permitted, and will not 
necessarily end in leaving the government to the worst, (/.s 
vnll 7-es)dt w/terever the worsf alone profit by eo)i(liirtvng //"/<- 
ernment. We shall be free to hidulge in such neglect in i)ro- 
portion as we limit the power of government against that pri- 
vate and special legislation whicli affords inducements to coi-- 
i-uption, and restrict it to those jniblic measures which, opera- 
ting equally on all citizens, lea\e no special advantage to be 
sought or gained by anj^yj^lien so mucli of legislation as 
especially affects those l^^lities is relegated to the county and 
town authorities ; Avhen claims against the State can only be 
recovered through a court of justice; when the Legislatui-e is 
actually stripped of the power of giving private grants and 
special privileges and legislation as to such things is made ab- 
solutely general, then, and not until then, will there be in these 
resi)ects — no matter which i)arty is in jtower — permanent 



22 

I im|)i'ovc'iucMil, ill U'nislntion. When' tlio carcass rciuains llicrc 
/ will the vultures l)e also. N^ 

*" It" there l)e a necessity f<>i" such restraints ujtoii the Stati' 
(Toverninents, still more are they likely to be, and at no dis- 
tant time nci'di'd in rcsjtcct of the Federal |>o\\er. 

When Congress shall have fully entered on the hnsiness of 
private legislation ; when it shall i)roceed generally, as it has 
just begun to do, to grant private charters and create s|ii'cial 
privilegt's and franchises in the h>tntc^^ the result will be to 
unite upon Wasliington all the lol)l)ies and im|)roper intln- 
eiices now distributed among tlu' various State Capitals, and 
bring about there a corruption, as much worse than that 
which pi-e\ails at any State Cajntal, as the power of the Fed- 
eral (Tovernment is greater and imux' geiu'ral than that of any 
State. 

Hitherto the legislation of (^>ngres.s has been chiefly gen- 
eral. Doubtless its power to determine what shall be ex- 
jieiided for ]utblic works and buildings in partitailar localities 
too ofti'ii controls l{ei)resentati\ es, and leads to evil com- 
binations and to log-rolling. But this intiuence is of a ([uasi 
public nature. So that, except grants of the public lands, 
subsidies, and those ]irovisions of the tariff for protection so 
shaped as to give bounties to particailar persons. Congress has 
hitherto had little op])ortunity for direct corrujttion. Ibit 
with the special legislation T fear the opportunity for and in- 
dncement to corruption will eome also. Doubtless such 
sjtecial legislation is not warranti'd by those constructions of 
the ])ower of Congress which formerly jirevailed; and to re- 
turn to such constructions would tend to prevent these evils. 
Hut such constructions are based u|»on a general narrowness 
of Federal powers in conflict wit ii the ]>revailing ideas. Ibit 
' to restrain Congress by direct anu'iubuent from such legisla- 
I lation is to conflict with no man's \iews of how the Const it u- 



23 



tion should ho construed, and it might, therefore, he hoped 
tliat upon such issues men heretofore divided in politics would 
unite. Besides, no construction wtmld prevent the exercise l)y 
Congress of certain })o\vers clearly within its authority which 
have nevertheless now hecome dangerous and evil. 

Indeed there are respects in which it might be for the inter- 
est of the |»eople if the powers of Congress were enlarged. 
For instance so as to permit it to iirescrihe uniform regulations 
in respect of "commercial pai)er,'" and the liahility and duties 
of common carriers. But would it n ot be better in every re- 
spect if instL'ad of leaving Cong ress to assume — as bv and by 
it will — -to leg islate on such sul )jects, the needed powers were 
now expressly given it, and its other powers be al the same 
time so limited and de fined a s t(» restrain it, c(pi;illy as the 
State-i are rest rained, from impa iring! xcst cd riglits, ;iiid beyojid 
that from ent eriuir at all on t his dangerous class of private 
and special legislation which now threatens us. 



r 



Another source of our present evils is to be found in the 
enormous increase and centralization of ofhcial patronage. 
With the growth of the country ortices and patronage have 
grown also. But especially is this true of the Federal patronage. 
So wholly insignificant did this patronage seem to the Fathers 
that they made no provision on that subject, and the first Con- 
gress was in doubt whether the Executive could remove from 
office at all. To day there are in the hands of the President 
more than SO, 000 appointments over which he exercises abso- 
lute and immediate control. Bt-fore the telegraph, although 
this patronage was large it was impossible for him to exercise 
it as now. Commimication by mail was then too slow to 
admit of i)roper encpiiries and prompt discipline in remote 
l)arts of tlu' country, and the patronage was therefore neces- 
sarily largely delegated. 



24 



But now, 1)y tlie aid of the tele<i;r:i|>li, the President- knows 
in the niovnini:; ns well what has ha)i})i'ned the day before in 
Orei^-on as in Maryland ; and can discipline every office holder 
who fails lo keep his shoulder up to the administration collar, 
even in I he remotest parts, as promptly as if he were a clerk 
in the Treasury. The result is, that hv wields that army of 
officials as if it were one man. And Avith their active interest, 
and that of their friends and relations, they can almost con- 
trol not only nominations but elections. This evil, of which 
we have felt the commencement only, it has been proposed to 
cure by what is styled civil service reform. But no exami- 
nation nor proficiency in learning will Avork any substantial 
cure for this evil. Tt can be radically cured only by decen- 
tralizino- mid limitino; this poAver. In AA'hat i)recise Avay it 
may l)e difHcult now to suggest. Perlia]»s by localizing the 
selection of such .officers as can pro})erly be chosen by the 
localities — as, for instance, postmasters and tax gatherers, and 
the like, and by making the tenure of office for those ap- 
l»ointed 1)V the President depend ujton good liehaviour. But 
certain it is that this patronage is now so enormous that it 
must be in some Avay restricted and reduced if it is not to 
continue to be abused. 



Finally, as regards the third essential of free government, 
the absence of any class jM-ivileged to perpeliuate^accnmulations 
orproperty— -pray regard the great corporations of our day. 
SpringmgTroin small associations; allowed, in the supposed 
interests of trade to increase and consolidate — note the gigan- 
tic concerns that now overshadow the hind. Holding estates 
vaster than aiiy noLTeTwithout coriscienceTwitliout moral or 
personal a^ountability, and without elKl^and with()ut ]»ossiblc 
inducement to seek the public good. Having for their best 



\ 



25 



obiuct ttu' in-iv:i_t<' gain •>! . j'lt' corponitorsj often only the 
wrongful gain of their managers. To-day some of these eon- 
cerns absolutely control the States that created them. Others" 
"exfend over thousands ot miles oi" territory, anci will soonT^ 
they do not now, control the selection of every mem ber of the 
Legislature a nd of Congress alo ng their i-oute s, and be ready 
to combine with others of their kind to control the nation. 



Sjj ice the Avorld began nothi ng so crahgeronsto good govcrn- 
inei^ i , :i.s these gigantic artificial creatures ever existed. For 
they not only monopolize power, centralize wealth, .nid exer- 



cise c ontrol without responsitnlHyj but their sharejs afford 
facility and temptation to speculation and corniptioi! wliich 
make the influence ofthese conipati it s alike dangcroiiN and dc- 
Aiid no man need fear that thr>e ciKirnKius and 



mora lizing _ ^ 

perpetual artificial creatures are needed to secure such unions 
of capital as may be required for great public works. Such 
unions could be authorized and secured without exposing us 
to corporations of the present dangerous powers and dimen- 
sions. Neither need any one be apprehensive about interfering 
with the natural rights of corporations. Doubtless that is 
the best government Avhich, wliile it preserves order and 
security, governs least ; and giving no bounty to any class at 
tlie expense of the rest, leaves the freest trade, and the largest 
liberty practicable to all. But corporations have no natural 
rights : they exist only by the force of positive law*:;j/God 
never made anyth ing so dangerous as a great corporation ; it 
was left to the folly or the wickedness of men to contrive it. p? 



Being the creature of the law it has no rights except tliose 
! given by the law, and, IiK othei- monstei-s licensed by 
governTfreni;^ it should for public safety, if brought in at all, 



Xow, no reaction in respect of the powers of the Federal 



26 



Govenmu'nt — no return to old c-onstnu^tious Avill give the 
country the remedies against these evils it now needs. They 
can only l>e attained by direct and positive limitations of the 
powers of government. Not only do revolutions not go 
backward ; not only is it impt)ssil)le to make the ])eople of 
these thirty-seven States, — the majority of them l»orn ami 
brought up since the old discussions as to the distribution of 
powers ceased and those as to slavery l)egan, and knit to- 
gether l)y every facility of trade and communication, — feel in 
respect of State pi-ide and State rights as our P^ithers felt ; 
but if we could go back to these constructions of Federal 
power these evils would not even then be cured. That can 
only be done by positive limitations on the jiowers of the 
Legislatures, both State and P^ederal. ; inhibiting the exercise 
of those powers that should not be exercised at all ; localizing, 
where practicable, the exercise of the ])owers that must be re- 
tained ; and restricting within safe limits the authority ami 
the combinations of the great Coi-porations. 



History furnishes no ])recedeiit for the possible future of 
this nation. Vast, fertile, salubrious, settled at a late age, and 
thus enabled to avail itself of all the learning, experience, and 
progress of the older nations ; iitted for every form of }»ro- 
duction, of manufacture, and of trade ; lying in the oceans 
between the Orient and Euro})e ; it has within the centuiy 
passed from a few feeble colonies to a nation of the mightiest 
power and wealth ; while indefinite room for growth and pro- 
gress still remains to it. 

IJut, alas ! the ditticulties in government increase with the 
numbers go\erned. If but a few men dwelt alone u[)on this 
island, each might retain the largest liberty. But as numbers 
increase, and men crowd upon each other, each must in some 
degree resti'ain the exercise of his own rights, or trench upon 



27 



those of his neighbor, and thus the difticulties of government 
begin. With increasing nunihei' and increasing ca])ital, they 
increase. Our people have been disposed to think that the 
form of government bequeathed them by tlieir Fathers woukl 
of itself Avork a cure for all the evils of humanity. At length 
it must be seen that this is not so. And although the national 
domain still affords a refuge to the laboring man, when crowded.'^ 
down l»y (competition in the great cities, which Euroi)ean na- 
tions do not have — which is in itself a reason why these lands 
shotdd not be parted with, except in limited quantities to 
actual settlers — yet grave difHculties and grave evils do now 
exist. It is time our people realized that to us is now given 
the arduous task of adapting the free institutions which our 
Fathers so wisely established for a sparse and poor and frugal 
})eople, to the numbers and wealth and luxury of our time. 
That the government of a great nation cannot safely be left 
to neglect, nor to the care of those who seek it only for the 
personal profit that results. That such a government de- 
mands the care and attention of all honest citizens : and even 
beyond that, demands also the ai»plication of sound principles 
and wise methods to the circumstances existing. 

Of course, I speak only for myself. But I speak boldly, for 
I feel deeply. I know, everyone of you knows, that the evils 
I have dwelt upon do indeed beset us. On every side the 
people conq)lain, demanding, in<leed, relief not always wise, 
but showing by their complaints that they recognize at least 
the presence of evifc^Foi- mvself, I am convinced, too, that 
the remedy an d the only I'eal remedy for th ese evils will be 
niaiidy found in Innitn iL:: and l()cn,liy.ij |<'' tin' i'\ci'(-isc of the 
]>o wers of the State and Federal Leu-jslatures, the |>atronage of 
the Executive, and the growth and })rivileges of i>rivat e cor- 
porations^ Limitation by construction if uiay be, if not l)y 
direct constitutional amendment, but in any event, limitation; 



28 



localization l»y States and within States, but yet localiz- 
atioTi. 

Now, whatevi'V inay be the ])arties of the future, I sliull l)e 
found on the side of those who seek by sueh tridy deniocratie 
menus to put bouiuls to corruption and absolute })Ower, and 
to preserve limited and localized and thereby free government. 
^1^ Rut remem.beriiiLr that the ]>artv which had oonpscd the e\- 
istiuL!,- Constitution had, after its adoption, conformed them- 




K» new situation, and ttien had come before long to 
of the country, lastini^ for tiftv years, my wisir 

— — ^»— — — ^— ioiAj^— — g »— a—MU— — ^^^— — ^» 

that this saine 'j^vcwt De mocratic ))arty should onc e 

••^mmmmimmmmmmmmmmmm^mmmmmmmm'mm'fmm^^''''^'^ ^^ ^^^"^""""'•''•^mmti 

and frard<:lv confront the situation; and, recoirnJ/.- 



volution through which the country has passed and 
'j,es in the government which haye resulted, should 



the existuig situation those ]»rinciples of limiting and 



j^>-,)\ iTiinient that lie at the foundation of our faitli. ^^ 
That having purged and purified itself, it should set its face 
against the creation of great corporations, the abuse of exe- 
cutive })Ower and patronage, and all forms of private and spe- 
cial legislation, and should call around it all tliosc who, what- 
ever theii- views heretofore, now seek to limit and localize tlie 
powers of goyernment. And thus uniting all of true Demo- 
cratic prnicii)les, however sei)arated l)y the exceptional eyents 
of late years, once more resume that control of the country it 
so long exercised to its own credit and the highest i)iil)lic 
<rood. 



^-^c^^^cZjY^i^^^ (sV^ 



ADDRESS 



DEIJVERKD 15EFORE 



THE TAMMANY SOCIETY 



TAMMANY ITALL, NEW YORK. 



July dtJi, 1873, 



RON. CLARRSON N. POTTER 



LIBERTY CDNSI-ilrt IN TUK LIMITATIONS OF UOVERN^IENT, 



.NEW YOKK : 
U. TAYLOR, L.WV. BOOK AND JUH PKINTER, (dr. FULTDN .V NASSAU*^ fa 



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